NEW MONMOUTH – The Trinity Hall girls basketball team is still the new kid on the block, and they’re causing all sorts of trouble in the neighborhood.

The four-year old program is coming off an 18-8 season in which the Monarchs finished tied for second place in the Class B Central division behind perennial state powerhouse St. Rose in their first season in the Shore Conference. This year, the Monarchs may be even better and might wreak even more havoc at the Shore.

That was evident on Thursday night when, after trailing by double digits in the second quarerter, the Monarchs put together an inspired comeback and held on for a tight 61-56 victory over Class B Central foes Mater Dei Prep.

The Monarchs (2-0) fell behind 22-11 halfway through the second quarter and looked out of sorts. With senior Bridget Andree leading the way, the Monarchs began to right the ship and went on a 13-4 run to cut the Monarch deficit to 26-24 at halftime.

A suffocating and unrelenting press defense helped the Monarchs get back in the game in the first half, and the same defense allowed them to take a 34-28 in the third quarter. The Seraphs (1-1) were able to eventually tie the score, but, after the lead flipping countless times, the Monarchs were able to grab a lead late in the fourth and never let go.

“We worked ourselves into a slump in the first half, but it was our perseverance and press defense that helped us pull through it,” Andree said. “Coach always says, ‘if you believe you can, you will.’ We just had to believe we could dig ourselves out of that hole.

Trinity Hall's Colleen Kelly, left and Catherine Loder, right, battles Mater Dei Prep's Jaylynn Graham for the ball in a game in Middletown on Dec. 21, 2017.(Photo: Jeff Granit)

Andree, who finished with 21 points, leads a stellar senior class. The forward averaged 17.7 points per game last season and is only 165 points away from becoming the first Trinity Hall player to reach 1,000 career points.

In their inaugural season in 2015, Andree and the Monarchs went 3-5, but have gradually improved every season. A solid 13-9 season preceded last year’s sparkling 18-8 campaign.

Impressive senior shooters like Kathryn Kwapniewski (10 points) and Nicole Ventura (nine points) have played with Andree since they were in elementary school. It’s these proud upperclassmen that have made a name for Trinity Hall in such a short period of time.

“I’m really proud of my teammates and what we’ve been able to do with such a new program,” Andree said. “I’m so thankful to have them as teammates. We’ve been playing together since fifth grade, so it’s really nice.”

With the Shore Conference being as packed and deep a conference there is in the state, the amount of trouble that the Monarchs can realistically cause is probably limited. They probably won’t be there in the end of the Shore Conference Tournament, but they have plenty of talent to potentially shake things up, and that’s more than impressive for a four-year-old program.

With dangerous shooters and an aggressive press defense that causes quite a bit of confusion for opposing offenses, the Monarchs are group of girls capable of tossing a monkey wrench into any game or tournament.

“It’s the girls on the team, the girls are everything,” Grier said. “Without them, there is no team. They’re truly delightful people to coach.”